Adjustable spray nozzle with resilient body



Nov. 8, 1960 J, c s -r'ro 2,959,359

ADJUSTABLE SPRAY NOZZLE WITH RESILIENT BODY Filed March 2, 1959 aINVENTOR. JOSEPH CASALETTO A 7' TOPNEVS ADJUSTABLE SPRAY N OZZLE WITHRESILIENT BODY Joseph Casaletto, 512 S. th St., San Jose, Calif.

Filed Mar. 2, 1955 Ser. No. 796,392

8 Claims. (Cl. 239-455) The present invention relates to nozzles, andpertains more particularly to a nozzle having a resilient body portionwhich is easily adjustable from a condition where it discharges asubstantially solid stream of generally circular cross sectional shape,through an oval coarse pattern and finally to a fine, flat, fan shapedspray.

In the past, various types of spray nozzles have been developed forproducing liquid sprays of different shapes and characters. Many ofthese nozzles are adjustable to provide variations in the stream ofliquid discharged therethrough, but most of such adjustable nozzles areeither complicated and expensive, or are not capable of a full range ofadjustment.

The present invention provides a spray nozzle having a truncated,conical body portion of resilient material having a pair of curvedpresser shoes mounted on opposite sides thereof adjacent its dischargeend for deforming said discharge end, whereby, upon moving the shoesinwardly to compress the conical body portion, the spray pattern isfirst changed from a solid stream a coarse spray of substantially ovalcross sectional shape, and finally into two convergent jets of liquid,so aimed as to impinge upon each other slightly beyond the nozzle andthereby to produce a fine, fiat, fan shaped spray.

The invention also provides an improved nozzle having a deformable bodyof resilient material and of truncated conical shape, and a pair ofcurved, cam controlled presser shoes mounted on opposite sides of thenozzle body adjacent its discharge end so as to produce sprays ofdifferent shapes and character from pressurized liquid dischargedthrough the nozzle.

A further object of the invention is to make an improved and simplifiedadjustable liquid spray nozzle.

These, and other objects and advantages of the invention, will beapparent from the following description and the accompanying drawing,wherein:

Fig. l is a side elevational view of a nozzle embodying the presentinvention.

Fig. 2 is an elevational view looking in the direction of the arrows 2-2of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is an end view of the discharge end of the nozzle shown in Figs.1 and 2.

Fig. 4 is a sectional view taken as along line 4-4 of Fig. 1, butshowing a modified presser shoe mounting arrangement a portion of agarden hose to which the nozzle is connected being shown.

Fig. 5 is an enlarged, fragmentary, side elevational view of thedischarge end of the nozzle taken from the same direction as Fig. 1, andshowing the nozzle compressed by the pressor means to discharge a pairof converging liquid jets, which, upon impingement with each other,produce a fine, flat, fan shaped spray.

Fig. 6 is an elevational view looking in the direction of the arrows 6-6of Fig. 5.

Fig. 7 is a further enlarged, fragmentary, end elevational view of thedischarge end of the nozzle as it appears in Figs. 5 and 6.

Briefly, the illustrative nozzle A (Figs. 1-3) comprises a resilientbody 10 having a conical wall 11 at its discharge end. This wall 11 isof a thinness to be easily deformable by a pair of curved presser shoes12 and 13 mounted on support arms 14 and 15 on opposite sides of thebody 10. The arms 14 and 15 .are mounted on opposite sides of a circularsupport ring 17, which, in turn is rotatably mounted on the nozzle body10. A cam ring 18 for controlling inward compressive movement of thepresser shoes 12 and 13 is mounted for relative rotative movement tobear on the arms 14 and 15.

A threaded socket 19 is provided in the inlet end of the nozzle body 10for connecting the nozzle to a suitable fluid conduit such as aconventional garden hose 20.

Referring to the drawing in detail, the illustrative nozzle body 10 maybe molded of suitable resiliently deformable material, such as, forexample vulcanized rubber, neoprene or a suitable resilient plasticmaterial. Such materials are well known to those familiar with the artof rubber and-plastic molding, and need not therefore be enumeratedherein.

The illustrative nozzle body 10 comprises a cylindrical, tubular baseportion 21 and truncated, conical discharge wall portion 11. The tubularbase portion 21 preferably is relatively thick walled as compared to theconical wall 11, and the bore of this base portion 21 may besubstantially the same as the bore of a liquid supply conduit, such asthe hose 20, with which the nozzle is to be used. A threaded metalinsert 19a is mounted in the socket 19, and is bonded in a well knownmanner to the nozzle body 10. The conical wall portion 11 preferablytapers slightly in thickness toward the discharge outlet 23 asillustrated in Fig. 4.

The presser shoe support ring 17 may be of suitable material, such asmetal or a strong rigid plastic material, and is fitted for relativerotative movement in a groove 22 provided therefor in the nozzle body10. The presser shoe support arms 14 and 15 as shown in Figs. 1-3 alsoare of suitable rigid material, such as metal or plastic, and, as shownin Figs. 1-3, are hingedly connected at 24 to the ring 17.

The presser shoes 12 and 13 may be integral with their respectivesupport arms, and of similar material. The shoes are curved convexly ontheir inner sides so that when moved inwardly to the position shown inFigs. 5-7 the portions of the wall 11 between the central portions ofthe shoes 12 and 13 will meet, and the end face 11 of the conicalportion 11 will be convexly curved as shown in Fig. 5.

The cam ring 18 is rotatably mounted in notches 25 of conforming shapeprovided therefor in the arms 14 and 15, and may be of suitable rigidmaterial, such as metal or a hard, rigid plastic material. A pair ofeccentric cams 26 (Fig. 3) are formed on the inner side of the cam ring18 so that upon rotation of the cam ring in the direction of the curvedarrow in Fig. 3 they will force the arms inwardly toward nozzlecompressing positions shown in Figs. 5-7, and in broken lines in Figs. 3and 4.

In order to maintain co-axial alignment of the cam ring 18 with thenozzle body 10, guide means 27 (Figs. 1-3) may be provided. The guidemeans 27 comprises four similar arms 28 fixedly secured to a splitcollar 29 which is journaled for rotative movement on the nozzle body16. The collar 29 is composed of two similar semi-circular portions 29and 29" (Fig. 2) joined together by bolts 26. The arms 28 are offsetoutwardly at their bases 28a to clear the arm support ring 17 and thearms 14 and 15 during rotation of the cam ring 18 relative thereto.

In operating the nozzle A, the latter is screwed onto a suitable liquidsupply conduit, such as a garden hose 20, a suitable gasket washer 30preferably being provided in the socket 19 to insure a liquid tight sealbetween the hose 20 and the nozzle. When liquid is supplied to theconduit 20 at substantial pressure, such as a usual city water pressuresof the order of 40to 75 1 1 4., andwith the cam ring 1 8 turned to itssolid line position of Fig. 3 to free the arms 14 and 1 5 for separationto their positions shown in Figs. 1-3, the liquid 36 will be dischargedfrom the nozzle in a full substantially solid stream of circular crosssectional shape.

As the cam ring 18 is gradually rotated in the direction of the arrowshown in Fig. 3, however, the presser arms 14 and 15, and the shoes 12and 13 thereon, are gradually moved inwardly toward each other, therebyinitially laterally compressing the discharge end'o-f the nozzle wall 11to generally oval shape as indicated in broken lines in Fig. 3.- ,As,the compression of the discharge end of the nozzle wall 11 progresses,the pattern of the liquid discharged by the nozzle changes to a coarsespray of a continually more elongated oval cross sectional shape. Whenthe, compression of the nozzle wall 11 by the presser shoes 12 and 13progresses to the condition shown in Figs. 5-7, however, and thecompressive action exerted by the curved presser shoes 12 and 13 causesthe mid-portion31 (Fig. 4) of the nozzle body beneath the presser shoesto meet, this closes off the flow of liquid through this central portionof the nozzle outlet 23, but leaves the two small openings 37 and 37 atthe two sides thereof. The tapered form of the nozzle wall 11, plus thearcuate shape of the discharge end of the nozzle as indicated at 11' inFig. 5, causes the liquid to be discharged through these small openings37 and 37 in two jet-likestrearns 32 and 33 (Figs. 5 and 6) which aredirected convergently toward each other and impinge against each otherat a point 34 a short distance beyond the nozzle outlet 23. When thisoccurs, the previously coarse spray pattern is transformed thereby intoa fine, mist-like spray. which fans out 'in a plane at right angles tothe contacting central portions 31 (Fig. 7) of the nozzle body. Thefineness of the spray 35 produced by the impinging jets 32 and 33 may becontrolled by the compressive force exerted on the presser shoes 12 and13, the greater the compressive force, and therefore the smaller the jetstreams 32 and 33, the finer will be the resultant spray.

- In the modified and presently preferred presser arm construction ofFig.4, the presser shoe support arms 14a and 15a are of suitable springymaterial, such as spring metal or plastic, and are fixedly secured at24a to the support ring 17a. Since the parts shown in Fig. 4 aregenerally similar, in structure and operation, to the correspondingparts shown in Figs. 1-3, the former are designated by the samereference numerals as their counterparts of ligs. 1-3 plus the suffix a.

When released by the cam ring 18a of Fig. 4 the arms 14a and 15a arebiased by their spring construction outwardly toward their separated, ornozzle releasing condition similar to that of the arms 14 and 15 inFigs. 2 and 4. The operation of the nozzle Aa. shown in Fig. 4 issimilar to that of the nozzle A of Figs. 13 and described previouslyherein.

During use, the entire cam ring and presser shoe assembly can be rotatedbodily as a unit around the nozzle body 10, in any degree .ofcompression of the latter by the presser shoes 12 and 13. When using anoval or fan shaped spray, as exxplained previously herein, this spraypattern may be turned rotatively about the axis of the nozzle by thusturning the entire presser shoe and cam ring assembly.

The invention provides a simple, inexpensive and effective adjustableliquid spray nozzle which has no internal mechanism to restrict the flowof liquid therethrough, and from which liquid spray may be discharged ina wide variety of patterns, from a full stream through a coarse spray ofoval cross sectional shape, and finally to a fine, fan shaped spray.

While I have illustrated and described a preferred embodiment of thepresent invention, and one modified form thereof, it will be understood,however, that various changes and modifications may be made in thedetails thereof without departing from the scope of the invention as setforth in the appended claims.

Having thus described the invention, what I claim as new and desire toprotect by Letters Patent is defined in the following claims.

I claim:

1. An adjustable liquid spray nozzle comprising a body portion having apassage therethrough, one end of said body portion being the inlet andthe other the discharge end thereof, means at the inlet end of thenozzle for connecting the latter to a duct adapted to conduct liquidinto the nozzle at pressures substantially above atmospheric pressure, adeformable wall of truncated conical shape and of resilient materialcomprising the discharge end portion of said nozzle and having adischarge opening in the truncated end thereof, presser means onopposite sides of the conical wall adjacent the discharge opening, saidpresser means being so shaped that when moved inwardly toward thetruncated wall from a position laterally clear thereof, said pressermeans initially deform the truncated end of the conical wall tosubstantially oval cross sectional shape, and, when moved furtherinwardly, force a meeting of the opposite portions of the conical wallbetween said shoes, and leave a pair of small openings, one on each sideof said meeting portions of said wall, the angle of convergence of theconical nozzle wall being such that, inthe latter condition of thenozzle, two jet streams are discharged convergently one from each of thesmall openings remaining one on each side of the meeting portions of theconical wall, which, upon impingement with each other, create a fine,fan shaped spray pattern.

2. An adjustable liquid spray nozzle comprising a body portion having apassage therethrough, one end of said body portion being the inlet andthe other the discharge end thereof, means at the inlet end of thenozzle for connecting the latter to a duct adapted to conduct liquidinto the nozzle at pressures substantially above atmospheric pressure, adeformable, axially outwardly tapered wall of resilient materialcomprising the discharge end portion of said nozzle and having adischarge opening in the terminal end thereof, presser means on oppositesides of the tapered wall adjacent the discharge opening, cam meansacting on said presser means for moving the latter inwardly to adjustedposition for compressing the terminal portion of the tapered wall, saidpresser means being so shaped that when moved inwardly from a positionlaterally clear of the tapered nozzle wall, said presser means initiallydeform the terminal end of the tapered wall to substantially oval crosssectional shape, and when moved further inwardly, force a meeting of theopposite portions of the terminal portion of said tapered Wall, andleave a pair of small openings, one on each side of said meetingportions, the angle of convergence of the conical nozzle wall being suchthat, in the latter condition of the nozzle, two jet streams aredischarged convergently one from each of the small openings remainingone on each side of the meeting portions of the tapered wall, which,uponimpingement with each other, create a fine, fan shaped spraypat-tern.

3. An arrangement according to claim 2 wherein the presser means is apair of presser shoes curved convexly from a position laterally clearthereof to a position forc ing the opposite sides of the body portionbetween the shoes into meeting relation, the curvature of the shoesbeing suificiently acute to leave a small opening on each side of themeeting portions of the body portion between the shoes in the lattercondition of the body end portion, the angle of convergence of saidconical portion wall being such that, in the latter condition of thenozzle, two jet streams are discharged convergently one from each of thesmall openings remaining one on each side of the meeting portions of thenozzle, which, upon impingement with each other, create a fine, fanshaped spray pattern.

5. An arrangement according to claim 4 wherein the shoes are supportedupon an annular member mounted rotatably on the body portion, and theshoes and mounting ring are rotatable as a unit co-aXially around thenozzle to change the position of the spray pattern discharged by thenozzle with the shoes moved inwardly to compress the body portion.

6. A liquid spray nozzle, comprising a body portion, a deformabledischarge end portion on said body, said discharge end portion being ofresilient material and of truncated conical shape, a pair of pressershoe support arms mounted for swinging movement toward and away from thebody portion, one on each of two opposite sides of the body portion, apresser shoe mounted on the free end of each support arm and positionedto have pressing engagement with said discharge end portion adjacent itsdischarge end, said shoes being convexly curved on their inner sides,said shoes being movable upon a swinging movement of said arms from aposition laterally clear of the nozzle to a position compressingopposite sides of the nozzle between the shoes into meeting relation,the curvature of the shoes being sufficiently acute to leave a smallopening on each side of the meeting portions of the nozzle between theshoes in the latter condition of the nozzle the angle of convergence ofthe conical end portion being such that, in the latter condition of thenozzle, two jet streams are discharged convergently, one from each ofthe small openings, which streams, upon impingement with each other,create a fine, fan shaped spray pattern.

7. A spray nozzle, comprising a body portion, a deformable discharge endportion on said body, said discharge end portion being of resilientmaterial and of truncated conical shape, a pair of presser shoe supportarms mounted for swinging movement one on each of two opposite sides ofthe body portion, a presser shoe mounted on the free end of each supportarm and positioned to have pressing engagement with said discharge endportion adjacent its discharge end, said shoes being convexly curved ontheir inner sides, said shoes being movable upon a swinging movement ofsaid arms from a position laterally clear of the nozzle to a positioncompressing opposite sides of the nozzle between the shoes into meetingrelation, the curvature of the shoes being sufiiciently acute to leave asmall opening on each side of the meeting portions of the nozzle betweenthe shoes in the latter condition of the nozzle so that as the arms areswung inwardly to force the shoes to compress said discharge endportion, sprays of diiferent cross sectional shape and character will beproduced from a stream of pressurized liquid discharged through thenozzle, a cam ring surrounding said support arms and rotatablerelatively thereto for controlling inward and outward movement of thepresser shoes, and guide means supported on the body in guidingconnection with the cam ring for holding the latter co-axial with thebody during rotative movement of the cam ring.

8. A spray nozzle having a truncated conical body portion of deformable,resilient material and with a discharge opening at the truncated endthereof, a pair of presser shoes mounted one on each of two oppositesides of the conical body portion adjacent the discharge openingtherein, said shoes being conveXly curved on their inner faces andmovable convergently inwardly from a position laterally clear of thenozzle to a position compressing opposite sides of the body portionadjacent the discharge opening, the area of pressure of the shoes on thebody portion transversely of the latter being limited by their curvatureto a width of less than the diameter of the discharge opening, whereby,upon moving the shoes inwardly from a position laterally clear of thenozzle to compress the body portion, a stream of pressurized liquidflowing through the nozzle and out the discharge opening is changed froma substantially solid stream, first to a coarse spray of substantiallyoval cross sectional shape, and finally, upon a meeting of the two sidesof the nozzle portions beneath the presser shoes, to two convergent jetsof liquid so aimed as to impinge upon each other slightly beyond thenozzle and thereby produce a fine, flat, fan shaped spray.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS245,096 Smith Aug. 2, 1881 1,865,012 Jackson June 28, 1932 2,029,337Parker Feb. 4, 1936 2,373,555 Folke Apr. 10, 1945 2,546,293 BerlinerMar. 27, 1951

